Starting back in June 2017, Xbox Game Pass is about to hit its sixth birthday, and the service shows absolutely no signs of slowing down. Though not every game has a concrete release date yet, Xbox Game Pass is set to have a phenomenal rest of the year with some huge name first-party titles dropping day-one on the service in 2023. While these big titles are what fans want, they could end up putting Xbox Game Pass' summer 2023 games in an awkward spot.
The summer is always a busy time in the gaming industry. Though E3 2023 has just been canceled, Geoff Keighley's Summer Games Fest is still going ahead, and big publishers are sure to host their own showcases regardless. The summer months also tend to see a handful of high-profile releases, and two of 2023's biggest games are coming to Xbox Game Pass, which could disrupt the service's usual flow.
Xbox Game Pass' Summer 2023 Could Be Overshadowed By Redfall and Starfield
For the last few years, Xbox Game Pass has kept to a reliable formula. It's often the case that at least one big-name title will hit the service every month alongside a few smaller games. In the summer months, the number of heavy hitters that come to Xbox Game Pass usually doubles, with each month getting around two high-profile releases - sometimes on the day of release.
In summer 2022, May kicked off with Trek to Yomi, an indie that was a big pull for Xbox Game Pass despite not being a groundbreaking title. Vampire Survivors came to PC Game Pass on May 19, 2022, and Sniper Elite 5 hit the service on May 26. June saw the day-one release of TMNT: Shredder's Revenge, and July saw a handful of Yakuza games come to Game Pass alongside the day-one exclusive As Dusk Falls. Then in August, Immortality launched day-one on Xbox Game Pass, and in September, Xbox Game Pass ended the summer strong with Disney Dreamlight Valley, Deathloop, and Grounded's full release.
Last year's Xbox Game Pass offerings were plentiful, but this year's output might look a little different. On May 2, Arkane's Redfall is set to release. It's clear that Xbox is really banking on Redfall, and to make summer 2023 even more interesting, Bethesda's long-awaited Starfield is then set to release on September 6. These two bookends to the summer could mean a break from Xbox Game Pass' usual summer release formula.
Redfall and Starfield are two of the biggest releases this year, and with both coming to Xbox Game Pass on day one, it's likely that Xbox will want to focus any marketing of the service around these two titles. Because of this shift in focus, it's also likely that any Xbox Game Pass free games released in summer 2023 get the short end of the stick. Xbox won't want to overshadow Redfall or Starfield, so any games that do come to Game Pass in the summer will likely be smaller titles - but if these games are smaller, they're much less likely to get any real attention from subscribers. Then again, that might not necessarily be the case, as higher-profile titles like Exoprimal, Lies of P, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre are all currently slated for a summer 2023 release on Xbox Game Pass. Subscribers will just have to wait and see how they perform by comparison.